UEDCL Urges Public to Join fight against Electricity Infrastructure Vandalism

The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has called on the public to play an active role in safeguarding Uganda’s electricity infrastructure , emphasizing the urgent need to combat electricity vandalism and promote electricity safety.

During a media briefing on Wednesday at Uganda Media Centre, Jonan Kiiza, UEDCL’s Head of Corporate and Stakeholder Affairs said sometimes they switch off power because of planned maintenance works, and sometimes power goes off because there is an emergency.

‘’An emergency can be both because of human activities or it could also be as a result of a technical fault. Human activities are really an array of them, including activities under the line, cutting tree branches, stealing and vandalizing the existing infrastructure. The moment you vandalize, automatically these lines go out. And these cases in these last 40 days, I think have been one of our greatest pain points;;, said Kiiza.

He highlighted areas around Wabigalu up to Kafu that have been vandalized six times in the last four days. Places in Mitiana and Mubende were also vandalized more than three times in the last 30 days.

‘’And you’re not talking about small investments which are being put down, you are talking of billions of Ugandan shillings being put to waste by vandals. It’s a very critical vice that we want to call all Ugandans to join UEDCL as we fight this vice’’, added Kiiza.

He said UEDCL shall embark on a campaign aggressively to try and do a behavioural change campaign.

‘’And I believe that we know that there is a very punitive law where the sentences are actually very severe, especially for those people who are caught with electricity-related assets or even vandalizing a meter at home. The fines are really very terrible. If you want to interest yourself, you can read section 85 and 86’’, Kiiza noted.

He added that in the first 24 days of operations , UEDCL was able to restore and replace 262 transformers.

‘’The other thing we have done is to conclude recruitments. I think this is the biggest recruitment we have done in the history of the electricity supply industry. We’re able to onboard over 2,200 employees in less than 79 days. And I am not so sure that you have had any loud outcry in the different parts that the process was marred with irregularities and that all staff are deployed and they have reported on duty. They are ready to serve you’’.

UEDCL also commenced with new connections. By the end of April, they had connected 5,089 customers both domestic and three-phase.

The company also massively deployed staff. They commenced with dealing with the backlog of people who had applied for power in the old era of Umeme, assuring that a total of 277, 789 pending customers, and all of them will be connected.

By the time UEDCL closed their first month of operation, about 8,200 new applications had been received in our system.

‘’And we also assure them and also assure every Ugandan that those who have applied for power, the connection materials are available and we should be able to connect them.In the same spirit of accounting for what has been done in these 30 days. I know Ugandans were having anxiety that we will not be able to vend on the first day of operations, but you’ll agree with me, that the very first milestone we encountered on our first minute of operations on 1st of April, all systems were able to allow you to buy electricity, both on the different telcos that we have been partnering with’’, he noted further.

About the planned shutdown, Kiiza said; ‘’We don’t have a very hygienic network and you’ll appreciate that most of the structures out there are not in the best shape. The different parts of the country are also growing at a very fast rate. You can see the rate of urbanization, meaning that there is demand growing from time to time. So that calls for urgent investments. But also its good that we fix any problem with the electricity, we cannot deal with it when it is on’’, Kiiza clarified.